The canvas is their oyster

Art aficionados can enjoy perusing 127 works of renowned artists across the world and get some quick lessons in history at Gallery Art and Soul’s latest exhibition Autobiografia-Recluse of History. Rare portraits, lithographs and photographs are displayed together to help viewers enjoy different forms of art under one roof.

Artist Prabhakar Pachpute’s paintings reflect the plight of coal miners of Chandrapur, where he grew up

Works of Felicia Pacanowska, a cubist artist from Poland who survived the Holocaust in 1939, are also on display. Cubism, the most influential art movement of the 20th century pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, is an abstract style that uses cubes and is influenced by three-dimensional works.

An artwork by Cuban artist Felicia Pacanowska is mostly inspired by cubism

“Pacanowska’s paintings are inspired by Poland’s Lodz City, an industrial centre, where she had spent her childhood. We have displayed 39 of her works that depict the structures of industries in Lodz during the World War II era,” says Somesh Sharma, curator of the exhibition.

Around 60 photographs of reclusive Sri Lankan artist Justin Daryanigala are also on view. “He has imbibed cubism in figurative art and drawn female portraits with oil colours,” Sharma explains.

Apart from works of renowned artists such as Akbar Padamsee, AA Raiba, MF Husain and Picasso’s lithographs, young painter Prabhakar Pachpute will also showcase his works. Deeply influenced by the plight of coal miners of Chandrapur, where he grew up, Pachpute has tried to depict their emotional trauma in his works.

“In this exhibition, works from my earlier collection titled Canary in a Coal Mine are on display. They mirror the anguish and the deplorable living and working conditions of coal miners. I used charcoal to paint this series,” says the 27-year-old artist.